


It Would Only Make Me Late for a Date I Can't Escape

by LowTide1322



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: (barely), AU, Anakin Skywalker Angst, Angst, Anidala, BAMF Anakin Skywalker, Deathfic, Force Ghosts, Gen, Hurt Anakin Skywalker, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hurt/Comfort, Misc. Clones, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Mess, Pre-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, References to Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), Sad, Sad Ahsoka, Separatist Battle Droids, Some Graphic Injuries, Star Wars: Battlefront II - Freeform, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers, That's Not How The Force Works, The Force, Whump, Zeffo, anakin whump, because fallen order is amazing, could be canon too, jedi order, obi-wan whump, the ending is not obvious, they don't call him the chosen one for nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23922832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LowTide1322/pseuds/LowTide1322
Summary: Anakin expected he would be injured after this whole debacle as soon as the first explosion went off. He did not expect they could have died today.(An ambush that wasn't meant for them puts a lot of things in perspective for everyone... even those you wouldn't expect)
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Rey & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 22
Kudos: 305





	It Would Only Make Me Late for a Date I Can't Escape

**Author's Note:**

> INSPIRED by Star Wars: Battlefront II video game because I kept getting blown up. I wrote this in two days. Forgive me. And I'm sorry I always write angst.
> 
> Hope all is well with you and your families!
> 
> Enjoy this tear-fest!
> 
> (Title from Lord Huron's "Way Out There")

It was that morning that Anakin realized neither he nor Obi-Wan had any blaster injuries yet. Lightsaber injuries for _sure,_ Anakin could definitely attest to that (you know, the lost limb). But throughout this entire war and every other close call when he was a Padawan, not once had he been shot. Most chalked it up to him being the Chosen One—Obi-Wan would say that was hardly it, that it was because of his “unbelievably skilled Master” who protected him.

And then they would argue about who _really_ protected who, arguing about Geonosis and the multitude of planets where they would have to pull each other out of sticky situations.

Anakin would not have laughed at his realization had he known what was in store for him that afternoon. 

He’d left Ahsoka on the Venator because this planet they were surveying, _Zeffo,_ was practically uninhabited. There had been rumors that Separatists set up a base in this system, so he and Obi-Wan were sent to check out all of the planets in the area to make sure there was no massive secret base lying around. It was hardly the most challenging expedition for the 501st and 212th.

Zeffo would be the third planet they were going to survey, and honestly Anakin could really use some more action than this. He was so _bored._

“Anakin, you do realize that if we find the location of this base, we could turn the tide of the war,” his Master rebuked him. Force, Anakin needed to remember to shield his thoughts when Obi-Wan was around. He wasn’t a Padawan anymore! Couldn’t he leave him alone for just a moment to be free to think?

“Right, of course, but I highly doubt it could be in this system. I mean if the last two planets were anything to go off of…” Anakin rolled his eyes internally.

Obi-Wan sighed as they both braced themselves for their shuttle’s takeoff. “Just be on your guard. I have a bad feeling about this place.”

Anakin frowned. He could sense his former Master’s unease, but there was no outward cause for it. Could Obi-Wan have felt a disturbance in the Force that went unnoticed by everyone else?

He didn’t respond to his friend, only nodding.

“Prepare for landing, Generals!” Rex called out from the front of the shuttle. The planet’s natural stormy-atmosphere made landing a bit more turbulent than usual. Anakin smirked at how Obi-Wan’s face paled.

The small group exited the spacecraft, Obi-Wan among the first to depart. They had landed in what seemed like an old floodplain with jagged peaks looming over them on either side of the valley. It was so misty and windy seeing more than 20 feet would have been a miracle.

“Alright, Rex. You know the drill.”

“Yes sir! Boys, spread out, set a perimeter…”

The Captain continued to shout orders to his men, but Anakin drowned him out. He could feel something pricking at his consciousness in the Force. It seemed to be centered around the tallest peak to the right of their landing party. Obi-Wan, now a shadowy figure in the mist, already pressed a hand against the cliff face where Anakin felt the disturbance the loudest. He apprehensively placed one foot in front of the other, nearing his former Master’s position, until he too was touching the sharp rock.

“Perhaps we should have brought Ahsoka along after all,” Obi-Wan muttered. 

“You’re sure this is the base?” Anakin ground out. If they were wrong and wasted artillery…

“I’m sure. You feel it too, don’t you?”

And that was all he needed to hear to tap his comm to call in reinforcements.

Neither of them got the chance.

A sonic _boom_ blew out Anakin’s eardrums, sending both of them flying through the air and colliding with the cement-like surface of the valley. He tried his best to stick his arms out to block his fall, but it was too late—his forehead smashed into the ground, and the last thing he remembered before the all-encompassing darkness was the sound of his own skull cracking.

… … 

When Anakin came to, he was pretty sure someone had driven a lightsaber through his brain.

“Ow,” he groaned.

Despite the world spinning, he scrambled to his feet. Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had been with him, right? Where… where did he go?

He went to comm Ahsoka or Rex, but his comm-link was fried. Great! Of course it would be fried. As he cursed to himself, he tripped over some kind of soft rock. As if this situation could get any worse! Blaster fire was all around him, and he couldn’t even walk straight—

Wait… 

“Obi-Wan!” Anakin slurred. He thought he was shouting, maybe he was, but his ears were still ringing too much after the explosion. The “soft rock” (honestly what was he thinking, what even _was_ a soft rock?) turned out to be his former Master sprawled out on the ground.

He dropped to his knees and turned the man over onto his back. There was a cut and bruise blooming on his left temple and was covered in soot, but otherwise had no other glaring injuries. Anakin placed a hand on the older man’s forehead, willing the Force to flow through him.

This was a trick Anakin had begun to learn when Obi-Wan would complain of getting migraines after expeditions on planets with lots of sunlight. While Anakin grew up under two suns, the Jedi only really grew up with the city lights of Coruscant. He figured he could pass some of his immunity to sunlight intensity to his Master.

 _No, Anakin, that’s not how the Force works,_ he remembered the older man patronizing the first time he tried it. Lo-and-behold, it actually _had_ worked! Anakin felt a little more tired after, but it never bothered him much—and he would never tell his Master that because then he wouldn’t let him help anymore.

(Anakin wasn’t sure what exactly he was doing with the Force, but it eased his Master’s pain so he never really needed to question it. Besides, he supposed they didn’t call him the Chosen One for nothing.)

And this time, the cut on Obi-Wan’s head slowly stopped bleeding, and the man’s eyes fluttered open. However, Anakin felt significantly more drained than he had any other time he did the trick.

“Anakin, what—”

“Migraine trick,” he breathed. He didn’t have time to explain, and they couldn’t waste time laying there. They both stood up shakily, drawing their lightsabers. Anakin was all too ready to jump into the fray with the rest of the 501st, but Obi-Wan’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“You’re bleeding on your head! You should rest—”

“Really? You’re going to do this now, Master?” But he could see the genuine concern on his friend’s face, and Anakin couldn’t help but throw on a reassuring smile. “I’ll be alright. You look after yourself, too, okay?”

“Roger roger,” Obi-Wan said after a pause, smiling back. It was a joke of theirs to imitate the Separatist droids, and it also showed he’d forgiven his former Padawan for snapping at him. Thank the Force; Anakin could not get through this battle knowing Obi-Wan was angry with him.

The two took off in opposite directions to help their respective units taking down the hoards of droids attacking from all corners of the valley.

There seemed to be five major command posts from which the droids were attacking. The 212th had taken control over the eastern command post while the 501st had slowly overcome the northern and western command posts. Anakin heard from somewhere that Ahsoka had joined the battle and was soon going to take the southern post with Rex and Cody. So if he could just get to the central command post, then the Separatists’ secret base in this system would be on its way into Republic hands.

Anakin was practically seeing double at this point, not to mention the blood that kept dripping into his eyes making him for all intents and purposes blind. He charged forward anyways, using the Force to guide him. He could sense Obi-Wan nearby, as well as Ahsoka, so they must have had the same idea to take the post.

For a moment, he really thought this was going to be easy. Unfortunately, he didn’t give the Separatists enough credit.

They must have known that they would try to flank the last command post, since there were two heavily armed tankers with a small squadron of droids guarding each.

Oh, Force.

He could sense Ahsoka’s surprise slowly shift to terror while Obi-Wan’s normal light in the Force dimmed significantly with grim acceptance. That was enough for Anakin to know he had to do what he did next.

As each droid fired, he called the Force to him in massive waves, slowing each blaster bolt to a halt. He most likely only stopped them for 20 or 30 seconds, but it felt like hours in his weakened state. The effort brought him to his knees and he let out a scream with one last push of the Force to keep the tankers’ cannon-fire from reaching any troops or his Master and Padawan. Good; they had enough time to get clear.

One lucky droid had found itself behind Anakin, and placed a poorly (but luckily) aimed blaster shot right through his thigh. In an instant, the power of the Force was forgotten and all the blaster fire he held previously in its grasp shot directly at him.

The worst part was that he could feel every laser-sharp blast penetrate his skin and cut through his chest, his abdomen, and some even through his neck. The tanker blasts sent him flying backward, singeing his face. The awful screams of Obi-Wan that he heard aloud and via the Force didn’t help matters.

Anakin expected he would be injured after this whole debacle as soon as the first explosion went off. He did not expect to die today.

He lay on the rocky ground, eyes fixed on the sky above him. There was so much pain overwhelming every inch of his body that it soon numbed to an overall dull ache. That was a good thing, right?

Something was moving him, and his head felt like it was resting on some kind of softish rock…

He squinted at the shadowy figure above him that rained salt-water on his face. The world came back into focus, and it was Obi-Wan hovering over him and his head rested on his former Master’s lap.

His Master was the complete _opposite_ of his usual cool and collected demeanor. He looked desperate, and for what Anakin wasn’t quite sure. He’d been blown up one too many times to really be able to hear anything, but he forced himself to make out what was being said to him.

“—me, please! Can you hear me? Anakin!”

He wanted to say _stop shouting, you’re too loud!_ but could only manage a grunt for all replies.

That seemed to get Obi-Wan’s attention. “Keep your eyes on me, I’m going to see where the worst of it is, alright?” He grazed his hands across a wound on Anakin’s abdomen, and he let out a small whimper at the searing pain that radiated from that area. He must have sounded like a whining youngling and he hated it—he hated feeling weak, even in front of Obi-Wan. He needed to prove himself, he always had to prove himself to the council, to the whole Order, and right now he was failing at that.

But Obi-Wan’s warm hand against his cheek comforted him enough to know that he was safe… and that he wasn’t alone. He wanted so badly to thank his Master for being there for him, and he _did_ try to spout out a few words. There seemed to be a well of burning hot magma separating his vocal chords from his mouth, so speaking was almost out of the picture altogether.

“Obi…” a cough. “Wan. Th’nk-thank y—” the magma in his throat burst forth and dribbled past his lips. His eyes watered at the sting of it.

He could distantly feel the Force slipping through his fingers as if in slow motion, crawling further and further away from him. Even still, he sensed something in Obi-Wan break in that moment; there was a visible crack in the seams of the Force that held the Jedi’s presence together. Why?

“No!” the man growled, shifting Anakin so that he was nearly sitting upright. “You’re staying with me, Anakin. I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck with me for quite a bit longer.”

Anakin smirked, his pain forgotten for a second. “Y-you’re stuck wi’ _me,_ Mast’r…” he forced himself to speak again. Anakin always felt like a burden shoved onto Obi-Wan after Qui-Gon’s death, he wasn’t actually wanted by the young man. As much as Obi-Wan would deny it, Anakin couldn’t help but feel that he loved the man he saw as a father more than was reciprocated. 

He could tell now that wasn’t the case as Obi-Wan delicately stroked a piece of Anakin’s blood-matted hair from his eyes. 

He could hear footsteps approaching them from the left, but he didn’t have the strength to look and see who it was. He felt Ahsoka’s presence, so it must have been her and Rex.

“‘Soka,” he mumbled upon hearing her gasp at the sight of him.

“Ahsoka! Rex! We need a medical evac, _yesterday_ ,” Obi-Wan shouted, but for some reason the two hesitated. This only made his former Master more frantic. “Now!”

Anakin knew Ahsoka would follow orders this time. She’d learned her lesson after the crash with Aayla Secura all those years ago. But it really hadn’t been that long ago, had it? The war made him feel like he’d aged decades sometimes.

 _I’ll be back, Skyguy,_ Ahsoka communicated to him. He could hear Rex and her sprint away, the Captain screaming orders all around them until his voice faded completely. Some part of Anakin knew that would be the last time he’d see his Padawan, and a lone tear that had built up in his eye tumbled down his face.

It was just him and Obi-Wan again.

Seeing Ahsoka one last time felt like he’d been given some sort of permission to finally relax, letting his body stop shaking and sink into Obi-Wan’s arms further. He wasn’t sure that he was breathing normally since the space between inhales and exhales had grown exponentially. Unfortunately, this seemed to piss Obi-Wan off, like _a lot._

“No you don’t! Don’t you leave me, Ani, you have to hold on,” the Jedi’s voice shook more than Anakin had truly ever heard it.

He’d never seen Obi-Wan truly cry, either.

His former Master choked back sob after sob, not letting his grief through his fracturing _Jedi do not feel attachment_ persona. Anakin never was a good Jedi, he knew that, and he would never let go of his attachment to Obi-Wan if their roles were reversed. He was selfish, but Obi-Wan was selflessly compassionate. Anakin refused to change that about the older man.

“‘S okay, lemme-lemme go—” Anakin whispered, his strength all but gone. His connection to the world around him and the Force hung on two threads that he could easily name: Padmé and Obi-Wan. Padmé would have to understand, she would have to know that he’d made good on his promise to protect what she loved—freedom, justice, security, democracy, everything she and the Republic stood for. He just wasn’t able to protect himself, was he? But Anakin would see her again either if he made it out of this, or in the next life… he knew that for certain.

One of the two threads snapped, leaving only one tethering Anakin to the world of the living.

“No. No, I won’t Anakin, stay!” Obi-Wan’s grip on him tightened, as if his will alone would keep his little brother (son) alive longer. “Listen to me just this once, Padawan, _please_ .” Anakin’s head was turned towards Obi-Wan, forcing him to look his friend, brother, and father in the eye. “Just _stay._ I beg you.” That was very strange… he _never_ begged.

Everything else around him faded except for the man’s blue eyes that reflected love and protectiveness so fiercely. Anakin wanted to do the same, but he was sure he probably looked as though he looked right through him. He forced his eyes to widen and his voice to work one last time.

“Y’r my br-broth’r, Obi-Wan… love you,” he said, hoping the words actually came out.

Unfortunately, Obi-Wan’s face crumpled further, and he let out a sob instead of choking it down. That wasn’t what Anakin intended. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, but then the Jedi embraced his Padawan closer and pressed a kiss to his temple.

And with that, Anakin’s last thread snapped.

* * *

On the other side of the galaxy, Darth Sidious was on the verge of a heart attack. The Council was supposed to send _Windu_ and his loyal Jedi to Zeffo for the trap, not Skywalker and Kenobi!

If only Plaugeis were still around… but then again that was a foolish thought in and of itself. Palpatine smacked his forehead. How could he have screwed up so terribly? He should have cloned Skywalker instead of himself, probably. 

Too much of his plan depended on Skywalker’s survival, and he hadn’t realized it until it was too late.

* * *

Anakin Skywalker was a bloody idiot. Kenobi knew this for certain. He charged straight into everything, damn the consequences. When he’d lecture the boy about it, he’d always say that he was endangering the lives of those around him when he did that.

Obi-Wan would never admit that he worried for _Anakin’s_ life.

And that was foolish of him.

The boy never truly knew how much he was loved, and it was something Obi-Wan wished he reminded him every single day. 

So now, seeing Anakin hold back waves and waves of blaster-fire all by his lonesome, he panicked. Yes, his former Padawan was the Chosen One but after the initial blast he could tell the younger man wasn’t at his full strength. The fact that he could hold off all that fire power for as long as he did was nothing short of a miracle.

A simple assault droid crept up behind Anakin and fired a shot into his leg. The Force that obeyed the young Jedi this long fluttered away and did not save him from the onslaught headed his way.

Obi-Wan screamed.

He sprinted to where the assault droid crouched and pulled it apart limb from limb with the Force, his emotions raging. He knew he should have cautioned restraint, but it was _Ani_ that was on the ground, dying.

Force, his Padawan was going to die—

“No. Wake up, Anakin, you’re stronger than this, come on! Come on, stay with me, please!” He pulled the man he’d grown to see as a little brother, a _son_ into his arms, resting his head on his lap. His eyes seemed to focus, and Obi-Wan thanked whatever deity had kept his Padawan alive. “Can you hear me?” No reply. “Anakin!”

An annoyed grunt escaped the man below him, as if he’d been woken up from a delightful nap. Obi-Wan would have laughed if he wasn’t too busy panicking. “Keep your eyes on me, I’m going to see where the worst of it is, alright?” He didn’t wait for a response this time as he finally surveyed the damage.

It was awful. Blaster burns and blood _covered_ Anakin’s body, some even across his neck. His head wound had gotten worse (and dammit, he shouldn’t have let him heal Obi-Wan’s own head wound in the first place), but the most alarming injury was the deep gash in his abdomen. It must have been caused by one of the tankers’ cannons, and frankly had Anakin been anyone else but himself, he would have been torn to shreds by it.

Speaking of, the man groaned in pain and he snapped his gaze to Anakin’s face—it was scrunched up in pain. The amount of _guilt_ that flowed through Obi-Wan was unbearable. He pressed his hand to Ani’s ice-cold cheek, wishing so badly that he could give whatever life-force he had to the young man.

“Obi…” a cough. “Wan. Th’nk-thank y—” but he never got to finish. Blood bubbled up past his lips, the wound in his neck growing more and more agitated. No, please no… 

It was at that moment Obi-Wan realized that if he lost Anakin, he would not survive. It was different from Qui-Gon, from Satine, from _anything_ he’d ever felt. This man, this _child_ that he loved was in his charge and he’d practically killed him. Jedi were not supposed to feel attachment, allegedly. But this wasn’t obsessive or corrupt; it was genuine and unconditional. 

And it was slipping through his fingers, no matter how hard he gripped the boy.

“No!” he growled, shifting Anakin so that he was nearly sitting upright. “You’re staying with me, Anakin. I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck with me for quite a bit longer.” And he would never leave him, not unless he himself were dead. Even then… he’d always be with him.

Anakin smirked and said something about Obi-Wan being stuck with _him_ and he let himself smile. He knew his Padawan always assumed he wasn’t wanted, and he should have done more to persuade him otherwise. He should have gone with him to Tatooine to save his mother; he should have helped him settle things with Padmé, whether they were together already or not. But he didn’t, because he thought that by caring he was somehow betraying the very Order he served.

What an amazing lie that was.

Rex and Ahsoka appeared seemingly out of thin air, and Obi-Wan couldn’t have been more relieved. He sent them to get a medical evacuation, but they stood there like their feet were stuck in quicksand. Their horrific expressions made it feel like Anakin was already dead, which he wasn’t. Ahsoka was in too much shock to really disobey him, and a part of him was very grateful for that. If Anakin _did_ die… well, he knew what it felt like to watch the light leave your Master’s eyes, and it wasn’t something a Padawan so young should have to endure.

But he thought watching your Master die was the height of tragedy. Today proved him so very wrong. 

The trembles that plagued Anakin before were now subsiding, and the tenseness in his shoulders began to relax. He was losing him, he knew logically. He should have helped ease the pain so that Anakin could pass into the Force seamlessly. But Obi-Wan was too selfish and stubborn to do that. He shouted at him, shook him awake and pulled him unbearably closer.

“‘S okay, lemme-lemme go—” the boy whimpered.

No, it was _not_ okay, it was never going to be okay, nothing would be okay ever again if he let Anakin go. Anakin was his _everything_ and without him he had absolutely nothing.

Obi-Wan kept shouting nonsense, but nothing would make Anakin stay. “Listen to me just this once, Padawan, _please_ .” He clasped the young Jedi on the neck, dragging his gaze to look directly at him. Anakin’s normally brilliant blue eyes were dulled with fatigue and the ache of death. It was horrifying. “Just _stay._ I beg you.”

He knew this wasn’t Anakin’s choice, so he wasn’t necessarily begging him. No, he begged the Force to allow its child to live. Anakin had yet to bring balance to the Force, and Obi-Wan refused to live in a universe that didn’t have his blinding Force presence nearby at all times. Couldn’t the Force grant them this small mercy, after everything they had suffered through?

“Y’r my br-broth’r, Obi-Wan… love you,” Anakin whispered. Had Obi-Wan not been holding him so close, he wouldn’t have heard him.

All of the Jedi Master’s strength left him when his Padawan said this. He sobbed, it was an ugly sob, but miraculously Anakin still had enough life in him to express concern for his Master.

The Force felt like a sunset; soon, Anakin’s bright Force presence would disappear completely. Forgetting his own stubbornness, he pressed a kiss to the boy’s temple, hoping to comfort him as he passed into the Force. He squeezed his eyes shut, clutching Anakin like he was his lifeline (well, he was). 

And as Ahsoka and Rex returned with a medical shuttle in tow, Anakin was just… gone. Obi-Wan imagined that there would be a sonic boom of pain when he left, but was greeted with something much worse.

The Force, much like the boy he held, was cold and devoid of life. There was a hole where Anakin should have been, and it was actually frightening. The Dark Side of the Force had never even felt like this when he was around Maul or Dooku. It was like in that moment… the Force had died with its child. 

So had Obi-Wan.

He kept his eyes squeezed shut, for he could not bear to look into the lifeless eyes of the child he’d practically raised for over a decade. Ahsoka landed next to him, crying out in physical pain from the detachment of the Force around them. 

He tried so hard not to look, but he couldn’t help himself as his eyes slowly opened. He was met with vacant eyes, wide with _nothing_ behind them. He let himself cry then, grief overwhelming his body with such force it tore him to shreds. Gut-wrenching sobs had him nearly dry-heaving, but Obi-Wan could not look away from Anakin’s lifeless body as he clung to it with everything he had.

_No, no, none of this was real… it was impossible!_

Anakin was not dead, no, not he he could save him! Obi-Wan _had_ to save him; he could not survive another minute of this grief, and the very balance of the universe would fall apart without Anakin’s Force presence.

Obi-Wan steeled himself as much as he could, sweeping Anakin up from the ground. Ahsoka and the clones around him jumped at his sudden movement, but he didn’t really care. He found Rex and Cody in the crowd of clones—that he never noticed show up—and spoke to them directly.

“We have to save him,” he said, his own voice still wavering with sorrow and anguish.

The two looked back at him with pitiful expressions, and he knew what they were thinking but it did not matter to Obi-Wan. They were running out of time! A stopped heart could beat again with the proper healing… for everyone’s sake, it _had_ to.

“There’s still time!” he begged them once more.

“General—” Cody started, still not believing him, but Ahsoka had joined in now.

“Master Kenobi is right. We-we can still—Anakin’s not… he’s not gone yet, he can’t be! We can’t just do _nothing,_ Rex, please!” The young Togruta seemed to get the point across enough for Rex to snap out of his own shock and order his brothers to help Obi-Wan carry Anakin to the medical shuttle.

Cody tried to ease Anakin out of Obi-Wan’s arms, but he shot the clone an angered glance and only held onto his Padawan tighter. The Commander must have seen something frightening there, or maybe it was something behind him… in any case, he backed away hastily.

Eventually they reached the gurney, and Obi-Wan _knew_ he needed to set Anakin down, but he found himself unable to let go. And he _knew_ he needed to let go in order to save his life, but something kept him frozen there.

“General Kenobi! Sir, we need to look over him—General! Obi-Wan!” Rex shouted, and it was enough to snap him out of it. He gently lay the young Jedi on the small bed, looking into his vacant eyes one more time before closing them delicately.

He prayed that he would see them open again.

Time passed, and he found himself alone on the Venator with Ahsoka. She sat across from him on the floor with her head in her hands, and she trembled ever so slightly. Obi-Wan knew exactly what she was going through and wanted so badly to help her through it but he was frozen in place. He sat against the wall on the floor, eyes focused on nothing in particular—he wondered if he looked like Anakin had when he’d stopped living, when he no longer was a human being and became a corpse.

For the first time, Obi-Wan sincerely wished he was dead.

* * *

Silence filled the room for hours until Ahsoka finally looked up and took in her surroundings.

Obi-Wan was a wreck. His face was frozen in a despaired expression, making him look like a scared little youngling. He hadn’t said a word the entire time they sat in there until she finally had picked her head up.

“A-Ahsoka… I’m so sorry,” he whimpered, hanging his head. And she realized then, while she’d only known Anakin for a couple years and felt like he was an older brother, Obi-Wan had lost the last member of what could be called his family. Jedi were not supposed to have “attachments”, she knew this, and she figured that since Obi-Wan was the epitome of a perfect Jedi that his connections to Anakin were kept under control. Her Master, however, was not so skilled in that respect.

But Obi-Wan was practically nothing when she tried to sense him in the Force. What she’d thought was just Obi-Wan’s general Force signature turned out to be the culmination of his love and pride for Anakin and eventually Ahsoka herself. Very few times had that light dimmed.

Now it was snuffed out entirely. It was honestly more heartbreaking than facing the fact that her Master was most likely dead. And here her Grand-Master was, _apologizing_ to her about it.

Ahsoka scoffed and _zoomed_ over to where the Jedi Master sat. She enveloped him in a hug, trying to pour her own love for him and his Padawan to make up for his own loss.

It took a few seconds for him to return the embrace, and he soon recognized what she was trying to do. The thing—person—that connected them in this love and grief was Anakin, and she supposed that thought was what sent him over the edge.

He wept into her shoulder, letting himself sob and mourn the loss of his family. One would normally expect him to be doing this for her, but Obi-Wan deserved this. He deserved to have someone to lean on, to let out his sorrows to. Ahsoka had a feeling he hardly ever let himself outwardly _feel_ anything.

She rubbed soft circles into his back and he continued to cry his heart out. The amount of pity she felt for this man was overwhelming, and she couldn’t help herself from crying along with him.

This poor, poor man.

* * *

“Rex…”

“Give it to me straight, Kix.”

“We don’t think he’s ever going to wake up.”

Captain Rex _hated_ that diagnosis. After multiple hours waiting for General Skywalker to come out of surgery, he’d hoped the outlook was a bit more optimistic.

But he’d _also_ seen the sheer amount of destruction all those blasts had caused, and how bloody and broken the General had been afterwards. For the Jedi’s sake, he was _dead_ when they brought him in; it was a miracle his heart was even beating.

And then there was General Kenobi, and Commander Tano… 

For some reason, Rex felt like they were going to lose two Generals after this massive ambush.

* * *

The next thing Anakin knew, he was surrounded by sand dunes.

Really? He’d gone to hell?!

But then there was something else, or _someone_ else.

A little girl with three buns in her hair, clinging to a poorly made staff was crying to herself out in the middle of the desert. As soon as Anakin appeared, she looked startled and frightened. She could actually see him?

But then the scene changed again, and it was the same girl only many years older, meditating in a forested environment with rocks floating around her. She cracked an eye open, and saw him again. She gasped, dropping to the forest floor and then scrambling away from him.

He saw something shiny attached to her waist. He looked closer and saw a lightsaber clipped to her belt—

 _His_ lightsaber.

“Who are you?” she demanded, sounding a lot like Obi-Wan and Ahsoka at the same time.

“I’m Anakin Skywalker. Who are you?” His voice sounded jumbled and faraway. Nothing was making sense to him; was this what happened to Jedi when they died and became a part of the Force? Was this what he feared for so many years?

Was this where his mother had gone?

“You—? Darth Vader?”

“Who?”

“No, I’m-I’m Rey. I saw you once before, on Jakku.”

“Yeah, for me that was only seconds ago. What is weird is that I’m almost positive I just died, but this doesn’t seem like the afterlife…”

“On the Death Star II? With Master Sky—with Luke?”

“No… who’s Luke?”

She looked at him quizzically, and then seemed to figure something out on her own. “You’re not dead yet, Anakin Skywalker. And for some reason, we seem to be connected.”

“Is that why you have my lightsaber?”

“This?” she unclipped it from her belt and ignited it. “It’s not Luke’s?”

“Maybe… but it was mine first. I made it. Where-where’s Padmé? Is she alright?”

Rey shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know her.” She paused, looking closely at his eyes. She was searching his emotions, he could tell, and her gaze softened once she found what she was looking for. “Don’t be afraid, Master Skywalker. You-you will live. But do me a favor, even if you won’t remember this—”

His vision was blurring white at the edges, and Rey was getting further and further away. “What?”

“—your life has been a tragedy, and it will continue to be. But you have to live, enjoy the gifts life gives you before the worst inevitably happens. You will bring back the balance, and you will be happy, at the end. Just remember that it was all worth it; please, let that comfort you.”

“Rey? Why are you saying these things?”

“May the Force be with you, Anakin Skywalker.”

And then the white engulfed him completely, and he was lying down with some kind of mask over his mouth. The white turned out to be the obnoxious lights of the Healing Halls in the Jedi Temple.

Rey was right. He wasn’t dead.

He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them to slits in order to keep the lights from blinding him. He let out a groan when he did so, and something holding onto his right hand jumped at the sound.

“Ani?”

Angel. That was who that voice belonged to.

“P’dmé…?”

“Shh, it’s okay, Ani, it’s okay. You’re alive, thank the Force, I can’t believe—” she cut herself off with a quiet sob, and a surge of protectiveness welled up in him.

“P’dmé… ‘m sorry…”

“No, no, I’m just so happy you’re here, Anakin, but you can rest now, love. You’ve earned it.”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

When he woke up the second time, Padmé was gone. He was going to panic, but then he realized Obi-Wan had taken her place. The mask that had been over his face before was gone, and now his bed was angled to that he could sit upright slightly.

He couldn’t find the strength to speak yet, so he settled for staring at his former Master. Last he remembered, he was laying in his arms, slipping away into the Force. It felt so long ago, but at the same time like it had only just happened. When Obi-Wan finally looked away from whatever was _so_ interesting on his datapad, he made eye contact with Anakin.

And for some reason, that made Anakin burst into tears.

Obi-Wan set the datapad aside, holding his Padawan’s face in both hands with an inquisitive look on his face.

“Obi… Obi-Wan,” he choked out between sobs.

“Shh, I’m here, young one. I’m here.”

“I-I died, Obi-Wan, and it was terrifying, oh Force—”

He forced Anakin to focus on him, and his Master’s tearful yet loving gaze gave him all the comfort he needed to say what he was about to.

“—but I wasn’t alone. Thank you for being there, Master.”

Now it was Obi-Wan’s turn to weep. He didn’t even say anything and he didn’t need to. He pulled Anakin into a tight embrace, and the younger Jedi nestled his face into the crook of the older’s neck. Neither had any intention of letting go.

 _I love you too, Padawan-mine_ Anakin could feel his Master’s thoughts through the Force. He smiled, tightening his embrace.

Somehow, they made it through this.

It only made what would happen to them in years to come all the more tragic.

* * *

(Rey had thrown her lightsaber into the firey wreck that was Kylo’s stolen ship. A hand caught it.

“You told me not to despair before, and now you’re chucking my lightsaber around? Come on, now, Rey,” Anakin said smirking.

The two would bring balance to the Force once again, and would until the end of the universe.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a kudos and comment if you liked! (Also, excuse typos or systematic errors... my computer sucks sometimes.) Feel free to share some Battlefront "complete fail" stories! I guarantee I'm worse than you!


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